“I do!” do-overs

Guess how many women would change something about their marriage proposal.

Today is a holiday. Two, actually. The United Nations has declared March 20 “International Day of Happiness.” It’s also “Proposal Day,” which has sketchier origins. The official website simply lists the founder as “John Michael O’Loughlin,” who has apparently trademarked the holiday.

While many sarcastic jokes could be made about these two holidays — how one is about happiness and the other will surely lead to wedding regrets and eventual depression — let’s focus our attention on a study called What’s on Brides’ Minds, conducted by David’s Bridal in honor of Proposal Day.

For obvious reasons, the international bridal chain is totally excited and completely unskeptical about this made-up holiday. But regardless of their motives, the results are enough to give impending fiancés pause. Specifically, the “top areas for improvement” that wives cited as they look back on their husband’s proposal…

22 percent would “change the location.”

20 percent “wished the proposal speech was different.”

14 percent would “change something about their engagement ring.”

14 percent would have preferred “different people were present for their proposal.”

10 percent wanted to “alter the date of the engagement.”

And for men who think they’re pulling off a surprise, ” a majority of respondents (57 percent) said they knew it was coming.” In fact, “1 in 5 women surveyed said they reserved Internet usernames with their new married name before they were actually engaged.”